Problem: Vanessa earns a base salary of $50.00 every week with an additional 15% commission on everything she sells. If Vanessa sold $5500.00 worth of items last week, what was her total salary?
Solution: First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $15\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{15}{100}$ which is also equal to $15 \div 100$ $15 \div 100 = 0.15$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.15$ $\times$ $$5500.00$ $=$ $$825.00$ We can find the total salary for Vanessa by adding the amount of commission made to her base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$825.00$ $+$ $$50.00$ $=$ $$875.00$ The total salary Vanessa made last week was $$875.00$.